Deformed steel wire



Nov. 2, 1965 w. M. AKIN 3,214,877

DEFORMED STEEL WIRE Filed April 29, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 MIN 0701?" WILLIAM M. AKIN Nov. 2, 1965 w. M. AKIN DEFORMED STEEL WIRE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 29, 1963 INVENTOR. WILLIAM M. AKIN BY @f/Qfir 4! Arrmwxs Nov. 2, 1965 w. M. AKIN DEFORMED STEEL WIRE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 29, 1963 INVENTOR Nov. 2, 1965 w. M. AKIN 3,214,877

t DEFORMED STEEL WIRE Filed April 29, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR WILLiAM M. AKIN United States Patent 0 3,214,877 DEFORMED STEEL WIRE William M. Akin, Alton, 111., assignor to Laclede Steel Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Apr. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 276,606 24 Claims. (Ci. 52664) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 240,922, filed November 29, 1962, and now abandoned, which application was in turn a continuation-in-part of my earlier application Serial No. 713,443, filed February 5, 1958, which is now abandoned.

This invention relates to surface deformed steel members, of the character of the elongated bars, rods, and wires used in reinforced concrete, although the members of this invention are not confined to that use.

The need for steel rods and wires of high yield and tensile strengths has been steadily growing. The use of precast reinforced, and prestressed, concrete sections has accounted for much of this need, as has the use of continuously reinforced pavements and other poured slabs of large extent.

In casting prestressed concrete sections, it has been common practice heretofore to use round bars, rods, wires or cables, provided with hooks or other means to give the necessary anchorage in the concrete. In con tinuously reinforced concrete pavements, it has heretofore been common to use a welded or tied mat of rods, or bars, or welded wire mesh composed of a large number of transverse wires, to position and anchor the longitudinal wires which are primarily responsible for the strength of the pavement.

As is well known, so-called reinforcing rods are customarily hot rolled to form local surface deformations, on them, and thereby to provide good force-transmitting anchorage between the rods and the body of concrete set about them. It is only through such surface deformations that forces which would exceed the load limit of the concrete alone (i.e., if unreinforced) are transmitted to, and sustained by, the steel reinforcing rods. By contrast, where wire mesh is used to reinforce concrete, the anchorage is provided by the connections (usually welds) between the transverse and longitudinal wires, and consequently the effectiveness of such mesh depends upon the strength of such connections between wires.

Wire, as the term is used hereinafter, is intended to mean the product resulting from cold working a steel bar, rod or shape, as, for example, by drawing it through a drawing device such as a die, roll-set, Turks-head, or the like, so that the original body of steel is simultaneously elongated and changed in peripheral dimension and/or contour. Thus the term wire," as herein used, contradistinguishes the end product from the starting material (herein called shape, bar, or rod) in such an operation. However, the term Wire, as so used, impiies no limitation upon the cross-sectional size or shape of the end product, but does imply that the product is a cold-worked one.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a deformed Wire of high tensile and yield strengths as compared with hot-rolled shapes of corresponding dimensions and configuration.

Another object is to provide a method of producing deformed steel wire of high yield and tensile strengths compared with corresponding hot-rolled members.

Another object is to provide weldable steel wire of high tensile and yield strengths, which are so deformed as to provide, along their lengths, secure anchorage within concrete.

A further object is to provide wire mesh Whose effec- 3,214,377 Patented Nov. 2, 1965 tiveness for reinforcing concrete is not limited by the strength of the connections between wires.

Other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the following description and accompanying drawing.

In accordance with this invention, generally stated, deformed steel wire is provided which has high yield and tensile strengths compared with corresponding hotrolled member of the same chemical composition, by the method of first producing surface deformations on hotrolled steel shapes, bars, or rods, and subsequently surface cold working the shapes without obliterating the deformations. Cold drawing (or cold rolling) a hotrolled rod to form it into wire increases the tensile strength through cold work by direct contact of surface zones with the drawing device and simultaneous relative movement lengthwise of the rod or wire, and the invention contemplates that the pre-deformed bar, rod, or shape, be so drawn into wire that while a substantial part of the surface of the wire has had such contact with the drawing device, the deformed surface zones have been maintained substantially free of such contact. Such cold drawing inherently results in decreasing the equiaxedness of the grain in the increments adjacent the surfaces directly worked on by the die. Thus, the tensile strength is increased in the direction in which it is needed,

without appreciable distortion in those zones where surface anchorage and not increased tensile strength is desired.

Accordingly, the'present invention contemplates direct cold working on longitudinally extending surface bands of the wire, without substantially diminishing the strength in shear and compression of the integral anchorage deformations or irregularities below that required to take advantage of the increase in tensile strength resulting from direct cold working on the longitudinal hands. This may be, and preferably is, accomplished by providing the anchorage as a lengthwise succession of hills and valleys on at least one segment of the surface of the rod, bar or shape, and then directly cold working on adjacent segments of its surface. In this way, the anchorage zones are maintained substantially immune from diminution (by the cold working) of their ability to resist forces in shear and compression, while the tensile strength in the adjacent zones is increased by such cold working.

In the drawing, FIGURE 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic fragmentary view in perspective, showing a bar of steel being hot-rolled to produce deformations on it;

FIGURE 2 is a view in side elevation of the hotrolled bar of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view, partly in section, showing the bar shown in FIGURE 3 being drawn through a round aperture in a die;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view in perspective, partly in section, of a hot-rolled square bar with concave deformations in its fiat faces;

FIGURE 6 is a view, partly in section, showing the bar shown in FIGURE 5 being drawn through a round aperture in a die;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view in perspective, partly in section, of the wire resulting when the bar-shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 has been drawn through the die;

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIGURE 1, but showing a hot-rolling operation which undulates a round rod;

FIGURE 9 is a diagrammatic view showing the undulated rod of FIGURE 8 being cold drawn through a Turks-head type of drawing device;

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary view in perspective of 3 the wire resulting from the operation shown in FIGURES 8 and 9;

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the plane 1111 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the plane 1212 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 13 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the plane 13-13 of FIGURE FIGURE 14 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation of a typical apparatus for hot rolling deformations or protuberances on opposite sides of a rod from which the wire is to be drawn;

FIGURE 15 is a view taken along line 15-15 of FIGURE 14; 7

FIGURE 16 is a diagrammatic view in perspective showing a suitable apparatus for cold drawing the deformed rod (resulting from the operation shown in FIG- URES 14 and 15) into Wire by means of a rotating die;

FIGURE 17 is a view taken along line 17-17 of FIGURE 16;

FIGURE 18 is a perspective view of the hot-rolled rod which enters the apparatus shown in FIGURES 14 and 15;

FIGURE 19 is a perspective view of the hot-rolled rod as it emerges from the apparatus shown in FIGURES l4 and 15, and as it enters the apparatus shown in FIG- URE 16;

FIGURE 20 is a perspective view of the cold drawn deformed wire as it emerges from the apparatus shown in FIGURES 16 and 17;

FIGURE 21 is a diagrammatic view in perspective of a jaw type die suitable for use in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 22 is a diagrammatic view of a roller type die comparable to FIGURE 9, but usable when it is desired to draw the wire with convex opposite sides;

FIGURE 23 is a plan view of a rolling apparatus for cold working opposite sides of a deformed rod to convert it into deformed wire; and

FIGURE 24 is a plan view of wire mesh embodying the cold-drawn deformed wire of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing, and particularly to FIG- URES 1-4 for one illustrative embodiment of steel member of this invention, and the method of producing it, reference numeral 1 indicates a length of rectangular steel bar being hot-rolled, by means of rollers 2. The rollers 2 are provided with hemispherical indentations 3, which produce complementary, hemispheric, protuberant deformations 5 in the upper and lower flat surfaces of the bar 1. The elements shown in FIGURE 1 are entirely out of proportion. As a practical example, rolls 2 may be eight-inch rolls, and the bar 1 emerging from between the rolls may be approximately .250 inch wide and .125 inch thick, although the size of the rolls, and the dimensions of the bar do not form a part of this invention, and may be varied over a wide range. The deformations 5 may project approximately .063 inch from each face, and be spaced on one-half inch centers. Such hot-rolling inherently results in the grain structure of the bar becoming equiaxed if such equiaxedness did not already exist. The crystalline structure of a hot-rolled bar or shape as rolled consists of a mass of grains of approximate equal axial length in all directions. Such a grain structure is said to be equiaxed. Cold Working or physical strain which alters the length of the grains in any direction, creates a condition of non-equiaxedness, the degree of which is varied by the degree or amount of applied cold work or physical strain.

The hot-rolled deformed shape, designated 10, and shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, is cooled, and subsequently passed through a round aperture 12 in a die 14 of a single head wire machine. On this first drawing or edge working, the width of the shape or wire 10 in the illustrative embodiment is reduced from .250 inch to .210 inch.

The wire is thereafter again cold drawn through a smaller round aperture in a second die, which reduces its width to .200 inch, while the thickness of the wire remains substantially the same, i.e., .135 inch.

In the illustrative embodiment just described, the steel is a medium high carbon steel, with approximately 0.75% carbon and 1.30% manganese. The hot-rolled shape in its as-rolled condition has a yield point of approximately 80,000 pounds per square inch and a tensile strength of -120 thousand pounds. After the first edge working or drawing, the yield point has increased to approximately 133,000 pounds per square inch, and the tensile strength has increased to approximately 148,000 pounds per square inch. After the second edge working, the yield point has increased to approximately 135,000 pounds per square inch while the tensile strength has increased to about 151,000 pounds per square inch.

A similar and proportionate increase in physical properties results from the cold working of other carbon and alloy steels with different or varying chemistry or metallurgical content.

In the illustrative embodiment shown in FIGURES 5-7, the deformations take the form of indentations 50 in the flat faces of a square bar 52. The indentations 50 are hot-rolled into the bar 52 so that protuberances 51 exist between each pair of indentations 50. The bar 52 is cooled, and is then cold drawn through a round aperture 54 of a die 55. In this way, the surfaces adjacent the corners of the bar are cold worked. The resulting drawn wire has the configuration shown in FIGURE 7, with the cold working occurring on the chamfer 58 between each of the adjacent deformed surfaces 51. The depressions 50 in the faces of bar 52 of the embodiment shown in FIGURES 5-7 can be made of different shape. The drawn wire can, of course, be cold worked further by drawing it through smaller apertures in a die.

In FIGURES 8-10, another embodiment of the invention is shown wherein comparable operations are performed upon a round rod 21. The rod 21 is hot-rolled through a pair of corrugating rolls 22 having corrugating indentations 23. In passing between rolls 22, opposite (top and bottom) surfaces of the rod 21 are deformed to produce an undulating configuration consisting of a succession of hills 24 with intervening valleys 25. The undulated rod is cooled, and the non-undulated surfaces then cold worked as by drawing through a Turks-head 26. In the form shown, the Turks-head 26 flattens the sides of the rod which are directly cold worked into wire, but it will be understood that if the rolls of the Turkshead are concave or convex, the directly cold worked surfaces will be contrageneric. If desired, the cold working operation may be carried out with a succession of Turks-head type drawing devices, or by any other colddrawing or cold-rolling device, such, for example, as a die having a circular or non-circular aperture in which at least one dimension is sufficient to pass the hills 24 without direct cold working a substantial part thereof, while a dimension at right angles thereto is insufficient to pass the opposite non-undulated surfaces without direct cold working.

Where the deformed wire is intended to be used in the manufacture of wire fabric, such as the mesh used for reinforcing concrete, it is preferred to make the wire of readily weldable steel such as one containing 0.15 to 0.24 percent carbon, 0.30 to 0.40 percent manganese, impurities not exceeding about 0.05 percent, and balance iron; and in which the hot-rolling operations on the rod (to be drawn into wire) are carried out at temperatures not less than about 1700 F. Such a rod is preferably of oval cross-section (shown in FIGURE 18) as it emerges from the usual rod mill. Such a rod 61 is shown in full lines in FIGURES 14 and 18, and in dotted lines in FIGURE 15, and is passed through a pair of deforming rolls 62 and 63 which are respectively provided with grooves 64 in their outer periphery, so that the two grooves 64 define the exterior contour of the rod 65 which emerges from the hot-rolling operation performed by rolls 62 and 63. In the bottom of grooves 64, a series of recesses 66 are provided of shape such as to produce the desired configuration of protuberances 67 on opposite sides of the rod 65 as it is being deformed by passing between rolls 62 and 63. While in the form shown, the protuberances 67 are truncated wedge-shaped in the elevation seen in FIGURE 14, and are circular segment-shaped in cross-section normal to the length of the rod (as seen in FIGURE 19), the particular profile of the protuberances depends upon the size, shape and orientation of recesses 66. Of course, the recesses are not necessarily oriented so that their major dimension lies in a plane parallel with the axes of the respective rolls 62 and 63 of the wire as shown, but may, if desired, be oblique to such axes, and either parallel with each other, or arranged so as to form X-shapes, V- shapes, Z-shapes, C-shapes, or other desirable configurations which do not prevent their release of the rolled rod.

The rolls 62 and 63 are power driven. While it is preferred that the rolls 62 and 63 be so oriented relative to each other that their respective recesses 66 form protuberances 67, which are in staggered relationship rather than diametrically opposite, such is of lesser importance in the finished product than is the importance, in the manufacturing operation, of permitting the rolls 62 and 63 to be adjusted relative to each other, and consequently it is preferred not to gear rolls 62 and 63 directly together.

In a typical installation for the production of deformed wire in accordance with the present invention, hot deforming apparatus such as rolls 62 and 63 is added at the end of the conventional mill equipment for hotrolling rods or bars from which wire is to be drawn.

In passing between rolls 62 and 63, the rod 61 is not only deformed to provide the protuberances 67, but otherwise changed in peripheral contour from that shown in FIGURE 18 to that shown in FIGURE 19, and, at the same time, the rod undergoes elongation to the extent which compensates for the reduction in cross-sectional area, which elongation, depending upon the size and shape of the original rod 61 and that of the deformed rod 65, may be from to percent.

The hot-rolled deformed rod 65, as it emerges from the rolls 62 and 63, may be either cut to straight lengths or coiled for ease of handling long lengths which, for convenience, may weigh on the order of. five hundred pounds.

After the hot-rolled deformed rod 65 ha cooled to the temperature appropriate for cold working, it is passed through a device which cold works on the opposite peripheral surfaces thereof that were not provided with protuberances 67. The device for performing such direct cold working may be any one of many different forms, such as a two-part die, of the type shown in FIGURES 4 and 6, or a one-part die as shown in FIG- URE 17, preferably having a circular aperture of radius greater than the radial distance between the longitudinal axis X and the peaks P of the several protuberances 67, so as to maintain the protuberances free of contact with the die as they pass therethrough. In the form shown in FIGURES 16 and 17, the die consists of a circular part 68 which is provided with means for driving the die in rotation about the axis X of rod 65. Such may be accomplished by the provision of teeth 69 on the periphery of the die pieces 68 for meshing with a pinion 70 which is power driven. In this way, the wear on the die is minimized by progressively moving one increment of the aperture out of engagement with the rod being drawn through it, and simultaneously moving another increment of the die into such engagement. This distributes the wear on the die throughout the circumference 6 of the aperture, and at high draft may impart a twist to the emerging wire.

In passing through die 68, the bar is elongated, and those segments of its periphery which are not provided with protuberances 67 are changed from the contour shown in FIGURE 19 (also in dotted lines in FIGURE 17) to the contour shown in FIGURE 20 (also crosshatched in FIGURE 17). In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the elongation is approximately 20% to 40%.

The resultant deformed wire 71 is wound upon a rotating block 72, which latter provides the longitudinal force for drawing the product through die 68.

While the invention is not limited to the size or surface contour of either the hot-rolled underformed rod, or the hot-rolled deformed rod, or the deformed wire resulting from the several operations above described, some typical finite dimensions are given in the following table, wherein Mi, Mi, W, A, R, S, f, D, Rw, Aw, Sw and Tw mean the dimensions (in inches) so designated in FIGURES 18, 19 and 20; L is the weight in pounds per lineal foot; E is elongation in cold working between rod 65 and wire 71, and is expressed in percentage of increase of length with reference to original length; B is the cumulative bearing area (normal to the longitudinal axis of the wire) of all protuberances (one face only of each) per unit of wire length, and is expressed in square inches per foot; and Y is the yield strength in pounds per square inch of core.

Rod 61 Rod 65 Specimen Mi Mi L W A R S T L Wire 71 Specimen E D Aw R'w B Sw Tu) Y L The protuberances 67 provide sufficient bearing area (normal to the axis X) outside the core (i.e., the part cross-hatched in but one direction in FIGURE 20), and there are enough of them per unit of length of wire to sustain the forces in shear and compression to which they may be subjected while embedded in concrete; and, more importantly, the free space between successive (lengthwise of the wire) protuberances is sufficient to accommodate an interposed body of concrete of such magnitude as to sustain whatever forces (in shear and compression) will be required to produce, in the wire, a tension reasonably approaching (with factor of safety) the yield strength of wire, e.g., 60,000 p.s.i. with wire having a yield strength of 70,000 psi. The latter is not truly reflected in an evaluation of bearing area per unit of length (column B in the foregoing table), and neither is it truly reflected in an evaluation of bearing area per unit of core area; but is truly reflected in an evaluation of bearing area per unit of wire weight. For example, as between Specimen Nos. 1 and 4, tabulated, the bearing area varies from 0.44 to 2.45 square inches per foot (over 500%) while the caliper of the core (column D) is varying from 0.276 to 0.662 inch (over 500% in area); but when the bearing area is evaluated with reference to weight, the values of the four specimens are, respectively, 2.58, 2.40, 2.35 and 2.40 square inches per pound of wire. About one square inch per pound is ordinarily ample to assure that failure will occur in the core rather than at the protuberances or in the interposed concrete save in the case of off-standard concrete. Consequently, the invention contemplates such free interspace between bearing areas of successive protuberances and such bearing area on individual protuberances, that the cumulative bearing area is at least about one square inch per pound of wire. Such is true of each of the tabulated specimens, and this is likewise true of the wire shown in FIGURES 4 and 6 of the drawings. Where the protuberances are interposed by flats, it is highly desirable that the distance (longitudinally of the wire) between successive (longitudinally of the wire and on the same side thereof) bearing areas (facing in the same direction) be at least as great as, and preferably several times greater than, the dimension (longitudinally of the wire) of an individual protuberance at its junction with the core thereof (i.e., the root dimension of the protuberance).

Other forms of apparatus for direct cold working the unprotuberated surfaces of the rod 65 to convert it into wire 71 are shown in FIGURES 21 through 23. In FIG- URE 21, the die consists of two pedestals 73, which are adjustable toward and away from each other to enable the device to accommodate different sizes: of wire between them, but leaving the protuberated surfaces free of contact with the pedestals. In the form shown in FIGURE 22, idler rollers 75 are comparable to 26 of FIGURE 9, except that they are provided with central grooves 76 contoured to produce a convex surface on the unprotuberated sides of the wire.

In FIGURE 23, driven rolls 77, which may be cylindrical if fiat-sided wire is desired, or grooved if convexsided wire is desired, are provided for cold working the unprotuberated sides of the rod by rolling. Whereas in FIGURES 9 and 22, movement of the wire induces rotation of the rollers, in FIGURE 23 rotation of the rolls 77 induces lengthwise movement of the wire, but the cold working effects are comparable insofar as concerns the present invention.

It will be understood that, in any case, the drawing device and wire (or rod) move relative to each other in the direction lengthwise of the wire (or rod). Such relative movement may be induced either by actively pulling on the wire to move it through a drawing device, or by actively forcing the drawing device to move lengthwise over the rod, or by a combination of both.

Fabric, such as the mesh used for reinforcing concrete slabs, embodying the cold-worked deformed wire of the present invention, is made in the usual way, except: that the weldments connecting the longitudinal and cross wires need be only tack welds (i.e., of strength sufiicient to hold the mesh together and not necessarily so strong as to sustain the stresses and strains transmitted between the concrete and the load-sustaining wires of the mesh); and that the non-load-sustaining wires in the mesh are much lighter and more widely spaced than has been safe with mesh as heretofore made. FIGURE 24 shows such mesh wherein the longer wires 78-which are the load-sustaining onescorrespond to Specimen No. 4 in the foregoing table, and the cross wires 79 correspond to No. 1 in the foregoing table. Indeed, where the cross-wires sustain no load-as is the case where concrete slabs are relatively narrow and the cross wires 79 run in that directionthey may be made of plain (i.e., unprotuberated) weldable wire whose strength and stiffness, and whose number, is sufficient only to hold the longitudinal wires 79 together before the concrete is poured about them. In the embodiment shown in FIG- URE 24, the longitudinal wires 78 are parallel and spaced on four inch centers, while the cross wires 79 are spaced on eighteen inch centers, and the respective sets of parallel wires are connected at points of cross-over by tack welds.

It is to be understood that the dimensions of the shapes, the kinds of steel and the tensile and yield strengths given in the embodiments described are merely illustrative. Various other means may be employed for direct cold working the unprotuberated surfaces in the several embodiments, as, for example, peening. This invention is applicable to shapes of any size, so long as the surface deformations, protuberances or irregularities are so arranged that longitudinal bands circumferentially interconnecting them can be cold worked to increase its tensile and yield strength without reducing the shearing and compression strength of the deformations, or the like, below practical limits. When low carbon, weldable steel is used, the resulting tensile and yield strengths will be but high compared with deformed rods, 'bars, and shapes which are not surface cold worked in accordance with this invention.

In the embodiments shown in FIGURES 1-3 and in FIGURES 14-20, the protuberances 5 and 67, respectively, are so remote from the surfaces which contact dies 14 and 68 (during the cold drawing operation) that the protuberances are unimpared by the cold working. On the other hand, in FIGURES 5 and 8, the protuber ances 51 and 24, respectively, extend into coincidence with the surfaces which engage the drawing device, but this is of no practical importance since there is enough of the intermediate portion of the protuberances which remains substantially unchanged in dimension by the cold drawing to provide the shearing and compression strength and area necessary to more than balance that of the concrete body between protuberances. In each embodiment, however, the bar, rod or shape, before being cold drawn, has two or more longitudinally extending undulated surfaces composed of longitudinally repetitive series of longitudinally successive surface increments whose displacement from the axis of the bar varies substantially between a maximum and a minimum in order to provide integral anchorages. Individual such increments are found in FIGURE 11 between lines a and b, b and c, d and e, and e and f, where increment a-b has minimum displacement from the longitudinal axis AA of the wire 10; increment b-c has more displacement; and increment c-d still more, so that this series of increments varies substantially from minimum displacement at a-b to maximum displacement at c-d; but the maximum displacement at d is less than the displacement away) of the surfaces which contact the drawing device. The series is repeated at each undulation throughout the length of the wire 10. Similarly, in FIGURE 12 there is, at each undulation, such a series of increments e-f, f-g, and g-h, the first of which is at minimum displacement from axis BB of wire 51. Likewise, in FIGURE 13, there is such a series of increments i-i, j-k, and k-l. While in the embodiments shown, the undulations have gradual slope, they may, if desired, be escarped-all that is necessary being that the wire be of substantially greater caliper at the peaks of undulations than between them, and (if the drawing device is a die with a round aperture) that the caliper of the wire be less at the peaks of the undulations than at the surfaces to be directly cold worked.

The deformed wires can be cold worked once or they may be cold worked repeatedly, so long as the deformations are not obliterated. The deformations may be of any desired height or depth, so long as they are not obliterated in the cold working. Numerous other variations in the process and product of this invention, within the scope of the appended claims, will occur to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosures.

The deformed members of this invention may be used as pro-stressed linear reinforcement, where the high tensile strength, and the excellent anchorage afforded at closely spaced intervals along the wire make it possible to achieve reinforcing stresses of the order of 125,000 pounds per square inch, or more.

Welded wire fabric produced from the deformed wire of this invention exhibits such a great improvement in anchorage over plain welded wire, that the spacing of the transverse wires can be doubled or tripled without adversely affecting the reinforcing ability of the fabric.

When the deformed wire of this invention is used in stirrups and ties, hooks are unnecessary and the high strength of the members can readily be utilized with assurance of secure anchorage without the use of the hooked ends which are now needed where plain wire is used.

In producing continuously reinforced pavements, the high tensile strength of the deformed wire and the secure anchorage of the wire of this invention along its entire length can be used to great advantage. The amount of transverse steel, which is presently used to assure the spacing and anchorage of the longitudinal members, can be greatly reduced.

Thus it can be seen that the method of this invention produces a steel member of great utility.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Deformed steel Wire having on a surface thereof longitudinally spaced protuberances intervened by valleys, said wire having, adjacent said surface, a longitudinally continuous surface, the increments adjacent said longitudinally continuous surface having grain which is less equiaxed than the grain in saidprotuberances, and said protuberances being so spaced parallel to the longitudinal axis of the wire that there is at least as much length between protuberances as within protuberances.

2. Steel wire having a body section and longitudinally spaced protuberances projecting from the body section, said body section:

(a) having a substantially constant cross-section from end to end of the wire,

(b) being oriented substantially symmetrically about the longitudinal axis of the wire, and

(c) having peripherally spaced longitudinally continuous smooth surface belts collectively encompassing a substantial part, but substantially less than the Whole, of the peripheral surface of said wire, said protuberances being:

(d) arranged in longitudinal rows between said longitudinally continuous smooth surface belts, and

(e) so spaced, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the wire, that there is at least as much length between protuberances as within protuberances, and the grain in said body section being less equiaxed than the grain in said protuberances.

3. Weldable steel wire having a core of non-equiaxcd grain structure and substantially uniform cross-section from end to end, integral protuberances projecting from said core at substantially uniformly spaced intervals throughout its length and in rows lengthwise of the coreat substantially separated segments of its periphery, the cross-section of the wire varying from a maximum coincident with the respective pnotuberances to a minimum between protuberances, the longitudinal dimension of the root of a protuberance being less than the longitudinal dimension of the core between successive protuberances, said protuberances each providing (outside said core) bearing area (normal to the length of the core), and the sum of the bearing areas addressed in the same direction being at least one square inch per pound of wire.

4. Deformed steel wire having a core in which the grain is non-equiaxed, whose yield strength is at least about 60,000 pounds per square inch, and protuberances extending outwardly from said core for a distance (from the longitudinal axis of the core) not exceeding the radius of a circle whose center is at said axis and whose diameter equals the maximum transverse dimension of said core, said protuberances each providing (outside said core) bearing areas respectively addressed toward opposite ends of the wire, said protuberances being so spaced longitudinally of the core that the longitudinal dimension of the root of a protuberance is less than the longitudinal dimension of the core between successive protuberances, and the sum of the bearing areas addressed in the same direction being at least one square inch per pound of wire.

5. The wire of claim 4 wherein the protuberances are arranged in rows lengthwise of the wire, are substantially spaced from each other within a row, and the rows are substantially spaced from each other in the peripheral direction.

6. Wire mesh comprising steel wire as defined in claim 4.

7. In welded steel wire fabric consisting of spaced parallel longitudinal and spaced parallel transverse wires welded together at their points of juxtaposition, the improvement which comprises: at least some of said wires having:

(i) on a segmental surface thereof, a series of longi tudinally spaced protuberances intervened by valleys of greater dimension (lengthwise of the wire) than that of the protuberances,

(ii) and an adjacent longitudinally continuous smooth segmental surface whose grain is less equiaxed than the grain in said protuberances.

8. The fabric of claim 7 wherein the longitudinalwires have properties (i) and (ii) and the transverse wires are unprotuberated.

9. The fabric of claim 7 wherein the longitudinal wires have properties (i) and (ii) and are spaced sub stantially closer together than the transverse wires.

10. The babric of claim 7 wherein the transverse wires are of substantially lighter weight per lineal foot than the longitudinal wires.

11. The fabric of claim 7 wherein the transverse wires have proper-ties (i) and (ii).

12. The method of making steel wire for reinforcing structures set in situ about the wire which comprises, providing a length of steel rod having integral protuberances extending outwardly from at least one surface thereof and opposite longitudinally continuous surface increments which are unprotuberated, providing a drawing device whose aperture has a dimension in one direction which is greater than the thickness of said rod coincident with the maximum eccentricity of said protuberances and a dimension in a second direction which is less than the maximum thickness of said rod between said unprotuberated opposite longitudinally continuous surface increments, and cold drawing said rod through said device with the protuberances thereon oriented in alignment with said one direction of said aperture and some of said unprotuberated surfaces oriented in alignment with said second direction of said aperture.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the protuberances extend on opposite sides of the wire.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the protuberances are formed on the rod by hot rolling.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the protuberances are formed on the nod by compressing the area of the rod longitudinally between the protuberance locations.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein said protuberances are spaced lengthwise of the wire to an extent such that there is at least as much length of wire between adjacent protuberances as there is within the respective protuberances.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the protuberated rod has a minor cross-sectional dimension through the protuberances and a major cross-sectional dimension perpendicular to the minor cross-sectional dimension, and wherein the aperture in said drawing device is substantially circular with a diameter greater than the minor cross-sectional dimension and less than the major crosssectional dimension of said protuberated rod.

18. The method of making steel wire for reinforcing structures set in situ about the wire which comprises: providing a length of steel rod having a longitudinal axis, a longitudinally extending undulated surface composed of longitudinally repetitive series of longitudinally successive surface increments whose displacement from said 1 axis varies substantially between a maximum and a minimum, and a continuous longitudinally extending surface composed of a series of longitudinally successive surface increments whose displacement from said axis is substantially constant; providing a drawing device whose aperture has a dimension in one direction which is greater than the thickness of said rod coincident with said longitudinally extending undulated surface, said aperture having a dimension in a second direction which is less than the thickness of said wire coincident with said continuous longitudinally extending surface; and cold drawing said rod through said device with the undulated surface thereon oriented in alignment with said one direction of said aperture and said continuous surface oriented in alignment with said second direction of said aperture.

19. The method of claim 18 in which the rod has a plurality of peripherally spaced longitudinally extending undulated surfaces intervened by the continuous longitudinally extending surface.

20. The method of claim 18 in which the rod has a plurality of peripherally spaced longitudinally extending undulated surfaces respectively facing in substantial quadrature intervened by the continuous longitudinally extending surface lying part in two planes to form a corner.

21. The method of making steel wire for reinforcing structures set in situ about the wire which comprises: providing a length of steel rod having a longitudinal axis, the surface of said rod being composed of longitudinally extending increments which are undulating with respect to said axis so as to produce a repetitive succession of longitudinally spaced areas between which the caliper (in one direction) of the rod varies substantially, and of adjacent longitudinally extending increments which are substantially non-undulating with respect to said axis; providing a drawing device whose aperture has a dimension in one direction which is substantially greater than the minimum caliper of said rod through said undulating increments, said aperture having a dimension in a second direction which is less than the caliper of said rod through said substantially non-undulating increments; and cold drawing said rod through said device with undulated increments thereof oriented in alignment with said one direction of said aperture and at least some of said non-undulated increments oriented in alignment with said second direction of said aperture.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the length of the undulated surface at less than maximum caliper is at least as great as the length thereof at maximum caliper.

23. The method of making steel wire for reinforcing structures set in situ about the wire which comprises, providing a length of rod having an acircular core of substantially uniform cross-section and integral protuberances projecting outwardly from the core for a distance (from the axis of the core) not exceeding half the maximum caliper of the core, providing a drawing device having a circular aperture of diameter less than the maximum caliper of the core but greater than twice said distance, and cold drawing said rod through said drawing device while maintaining said protuberances free of contact with the drawing device to produce prom-berated wire wherein the core is cold worked by contact with the drawing device.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the drawing device is rotated about said axis during the cold drawing operation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,070,903 8/13 Luten 52740 1,147,603 7/15 Boyer 52--740 1,364,182 1/21 Conkling 52740 1,770,017 7/30 Sommer 52-660 2,374,827 5/45' Menzel 5'2738 3,136,054 6/64 Palmer et a1 52737 FOREIGN PATENTS 184,711 6/ 55 Austria. 192,097 11/56 Austria. 45,857 10/35 France.

, (Addition of Patent No. 752,624) 1,135,731 12/56 France.

803,675 10/ 48 Germany. 728,636 4/55 Great Britain. 169,982 6/ 34 Switzerland. 313,327 4/ 5 6 Switzerland. 329,649 5 58 Switzerland.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Examiner. 

7. IN WELDED STEEL WIRE FABRIC CONSISTING OF SPACED PARALLEL LONGITUDINAL AND SPACED PARALLEL TRANSVERSE WIRES WELDED TOGETHER AT THEIR POINTS OF JUXTAPOSITION, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES: AT LEAST SOME OF SAID WIRES HAVING: (I) ON A SEGMENTAL SURFACE THEREOF, A SERIES OF LONGITUDINALLY SPACED PROTUBERANCES INTERVENED BY VALLEYS OF GREATER DIMENSION (LENGTHWISE OF THE WIRE) THAN THAT OF THE PROTUBERANCES, 